Orlando City, MLS eager to capture more fans after World Cup

Lions hope packed World Cup watch parties translate to full stadium for first MLS season

July 13, 2014|By Paul Tenorio, Orlando Sentinel

Thousands of fans packed into the Wall Street Plaza again on Sunday for the culmination of the World Cup.

The red, white and blue of the U.S. watch parties was transformed into fans dancing in the light blue and white jerseys of Argentina or the black, red and gold of Germany. The colors were different, but the evidence of the growing soccer community in Orlando was there, just the same.

With the World Cup over — Germany earned a 1-0 win over Argentina in extra time to secure its first title since 1990 — the question in Orlando will be whether that growing soccer community will return to fill a stadium for Orlando City and Major League Soccer.

The Lions have focused on capturing the momentum from the World Cup and bringing those fans to their games.

"The club can see what soccer brings to this community," said Orlando City captain Rob Valentino, who watched the final at a Wall Street bar along with teammates. "And I hope people see when they come to games, the style we play, the passion we bring. I hope they see that we can bring that sort of thing to the community: bring the passion and commitment and desire, and bring championships to the city, and make it a soccer community and a soccer city."

Through 61 World Cup games, Orlando was seventh in TV markets for ESPN's tournament coverage with an average 3.5 rating — trailing only Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Hartford/New Haven. More than 25,000 fans packed into the Wall Street plaza during multiple World Cup watch parties.

During the past month, Orlando City ramped up its marketing budget. The club spent more than two-thirds of its entire 2013 marketing budget during the World Cup, though club officials declined to provide an exact figure for funds spent promoting soccer. The Lions invested in an aggressive campaign across print, digital and radio media, as well as billboards throughout the area.

With the World Cup coming to a close, the club heightened those efforts, adding six additional billboards through the area — 26 total in Orlando — and purchasing various digital, print and radio advertisements, including the Orlando Sentinel and El Sentinel. The club will also launch a "Why wait four years?" initiative to drive fan awareness to Orlando City's 2015 MLS debut.

MLS is undertaking the same efforts on a larger scale. The league had U.S. captain Clint Dempsey appear on the Late Show with Dave Letterman on the same night his MLS team played a U.S. Open Cup game. On Monday, MLS commissioner Don Garber will ring the closing bell at NASDAQ.

The club has seen significant jumps in season ticket interest during the World Cup, Lashbrook said, and Orlando City sold more than 5,000 season tickets during the first week 2015 season tickets were available for purchase. The club's World Cup discount sale, with tickets up to 35-percent off, ends Tuesday.

Orlando City's challenge during the six months that stretch from today through the start of Orlando City's first MLS preseason workouts in January will be to remain significant in the market.

"I think we just keep banging the drum," Lashbrook said, rattling off the many events, including a stadium groundbreaking, USL-PRO playoffs and the expansion draft, that will unfold during the next few months. "And more and more people are joining — I won't even call it a bandwagon — more people are joining the journey with us, all leading to that 2015 season."